Tom Cruise files $50 million defamation suit against magazine

Actor Tom Cruise has filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit against journalists at a U.S. publication.

In a recent issue of Life & Style magazine, the star was accused of abandoning his 6-year-old daughter Suri following his divorce from her mom Katie Holmes.

And now Cruise has launched a legal battle against the publication’s editors for allegedly making false statement about his relationship with the child.

His lawyer, Bert Fields, tells TMZ.com, “Tom is a caring father who dearly loves Suri. She’s a vital part of his life and always will be. To say he has ‘abandoned’ her is a vicious lie. To say it in lurid headlines with a tearful picture of Suri is reprehensible.

“Tom doesn’t go around suing people. He’s not a litigious guy. But when these sleaze peddlers try to make money with disgusting lies about his relationship with his child, you bet he’s going to sue.”

And Fields hopes the threat of having to pay millions of dollars in damages will make Life & Style bosses reconsider the kind of stories they print.

He adds, “These serial defamers are foreign owned companies with their global headquarters in Hamburg (German). They take money from unsuspecting Americans by selling their malicious garbage. Having to pay a libel judgment may slow them down.”

If the actor wins the suit, Cruise plans on donating the money to charity.